


Blood in My Eyes

by notoriousdre



Series: Twist the Knife and Watch It Bleed [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Established Relationship, M/M, Relationship Issues, The Alpha Pack, pre-Sterek - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-31
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 15:07:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1392157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notoriousdre/pseuds/notoriousdre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After saying the "L" word Stiles and Aiden are doing a lot better. Of course, in a town like Beacon Hills nothing stays golden.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stay the Course

**Author's Note:**

> This is where the series is going to start following the canon of season 3 a little more closely. I say a little because there will be events and deaths that happened in s3, but will not be exactly how they happened. For the next work it'll diverge in a way some people might really hate. Hopefully you do not. Dx  
> Made up sorta my own timeline here, but centered these events around Frayed, Motel California, and onward from there. 
> 
> I've EDITED every other work in this series so far. Just typo errors and things, but added/deleted some details. The plot has basically been the same, though for the last work I've added things that lead directly into canon-compliance. I began writing this series over a year ago pre-season 3 and stopped because I got busy/don't like writing while canon is happening. 
> 
> Hopefully it's all clear now, or will be in the future.

Who knew that such a little four-letter word could make a world of difference? After declaring their love for one another Aiden had been significantly less moody. He did request that one stipulation to forgiving Stiles, which was that Stiles wasn't allowed to mentioned Derek-- ever. Honestly Stiles thought that was pretty fair and while he didn't like the idea of eliminating Derek from his life that wasn't what Aiden asked. He asked Stiles to never mention his name or if they saw one another. They got cleaned up and never finished fucking, but cuddled together and talked into the wee hours of the morning. Stiles bounced some theories about the sacrifices around and Aiden filed it all away for later, but had no input to give in that moment. 

Stiles's relationship with his pack and friends was still strained, though he did corner Erica one day and apologize to her completely. She at least listened to reasons about why he'd been upset, why Aiden meant anything at all to him, and she said she'd forgive him for the insults, but not for dating one of the Alpha Twins. Jackson had been acting weird and distant toward everyone, so Stiles didn't think he'd ever get a proper chance to apologize to him. He tired to get to Scott but his friend was still upset, feeling betrayed, and the worst part was Stiles got that. He honestly did. But how was he supposed to make it right when they wouldn't listen? How was he supposed to help them or stop all this when he was willing to listen to them, but they wouldn't hear him out? 

Aiden came over on the weekends and some weeknights. One Friday he came over too early, before the Sheriff was gone, and John Stilinski did _not_ look happy when he found out Stiles had been keeping an entire relationship from him. Aiden got a stern talking to and a thorough sex talk, which properly mortified Stiles and (genuinely) scared Aiden. Stiles walked his dad to the car and John sighed heavily, rubbing his fingers across his forehead. 

"I thought we were done with the lying, Stiles?" he asked tiredly. When the sacrifices started Stiles couldn't hide it from his father any longer. He used a chessboard and pieces to try and explain everything, and John caught on quick enough. It helped he had Melissa to ask about things. But the fact he hadn't seen Scott around, or anyone else, concerned him. Now John figured it had something to do with Aiden, of whom he was extremely skeptical. 

Stiles stuffed his hands into his pockets and sighed heavily. "I know, Dad. I'm sorry. It just never came up; there never seemed like a good time to tell you. First it wasn't anything at all, then it wasn't serious, now--"

"Now it is?" John asked, frown deepening. 

Stiles flailed his arms around and tugged at his longer, messy hair. He'd been letting it grow out mostly because he liked the way it looked, but it also didn't hurt that Aiden now had something to pull on while fucking him from behind. "Yeah. Kinda? I mean we had a rough patch a little while ago but I think everything's good now. I have to work through stuff with Scott and everyone else, though, because they don't like him and I mean... I get it. I just wish they'd get it, ya know?"

Sighing heavily John shook his head. He didn't. He didn't get it because all he could see when he looked at Aiden was a blinking, neon sign overhead that said "BAD GUY". Maybe those were cop instincts and maybe that was just him being an overprotective father. Since it was too early to tell which one he tried to be supportive. He'd already told his son he didn't care that he was dating a guy, but the werewolf thing was a little harder to get around. "Your door stays open, and no more sleepovers," he warned, wagging a finger. He knew they'd had sex, and he knew they were being safe, which was at least reassuring, but he also knew he couldn't really stop them if he tried. Especially with a kid like Stiles. 

Stiles rolled his eyes, but smiled and nodded. "Yeah okay," he agreed. They hugged it out and Stiles headed back inside to his boyfriend, who was waiting patiently on the couch. 

"Soooo..." Stiles said, shuffling his foot against the floor. 

"No more sleepovers," Aiden repeated solemnly, nodding his head. 

Stiles snorted and jumped onto the couch to join Aiden. With his legs sprawled over his boyfriend's lap they played video games and argued over kills and who was cheating. It turned into a wrestling match, which turned into Aiden pinning Stiles and tickling him until he nearly peed himself. They made pizzas with ingredients Stiles had bought a few days ago for this afternoon and Stiles scowled in disgust as Aiden put anchovies on his. 

" _You_ bought them," Aiden pointed out, popping one of the little fish directly into his mouth. 

Stiles gagged. "Yeah only because _your_ disgusting ass asked," he pointed out. 

Aiden chuckled and slunk closer to Stiles, wrapping his arms around the human's waist. "You love my ass. You were staring at it when I walked to class today. I feel violated. I should file harassment charges," he teased. Stiles was wearing off on him in every way. Aiden wasn't as angry or grumpy anymore, though he still had his fits. He joked around and smiled more often, though usually only with Stiles. Sometimes he let loose around his brother and the other Alphas, which earned him stern and annoyed looks. He hadn't shared any of their plans with Stiles, and Stiles hadn't asked or shared anything with him. They lived in their own little bubble and that's where Aiden liked it. 

Almost as much as Ethan liked to pop said bubble. 

The pizzas were nearly done when Aiden's phone rang. He looked down, ignored the call, and tightened the arm he had around Stiles's shoulders. "Who was that?" Stiles asked absently, staring at the screen as he destroyed some newbie on Live. 

"No one," Aiden answered casually. 

His phone rang again, and again immediately after he ignored the third call. "Sounds like no one really wants to get hold of you," Stiles commented. The timer went off and Stiles exited the Live game. He pulled up Netflix so it was ready and jumped up. "Take it. 's fine. I'll get the pizzas out," he offered. 

Aiden watched after Stiles before stopping the fourth call by pressing the green button. " _What_ Ethan?" he snapped into the phone. 

" _Get the fuck over here. Derek's bringing his fucking Betas and plans on attacking us tonight. So drop whatever the hell you're doing with your little fuck buddy and get over here. **Now**._ " 

Sighing heavily Aiden didn't answer; it would take too much energy to argue _again_ how Stiles was not just a fuck buddy and how Derek was a shitty fighter so what the hell did it matter if he was there or not? He just hung up and stood, rubbing his hands on his thighs nervously. Stiles heard him coming in and started rambling about how now his house was going to stink of salty fish and how Aiden better brush his teeth before they made out later. "I swear if it makes your cum taste like--"

"I gotta go," Aiden interrupted. 

His voice sounded small and nervous, which made Stiles turn around in confusion. "Why? Is something wrong?" he wondered. Something heavy dropped into the pit of his stomach. If something was wrong according to the Alpha pack that meant something was going right with Scott and Derek's plans, right? Stiles didn't know intimate details but Derek had been texting him and keeping him posted when Scott was too busy with Isaac or keeping everyone from outright attacking Deucalion. It felt like way too much was happening at once with the Alpha pack _and_ the missing/dead people sacrifices. Stiles felt like he was in some over-written teenage soap opera. 

Shaking his head Aiden sighed and answered, "Nah I just forgot it's an important day for me and Ethan. I was too excited about pizzas to remember." Stiles smirked, not sure if he believed Aiden, but the werewolf came over and kissed his worries away. "I'll call you later, okay? And we can meet up tomorrow. I just need to go for now. Ethan needs me," he said. This was easier, since it wasn't a lie, but he didn't think Stiles noticed anyway. 

"Okay," Stiles agreed, forcing a small smile. He didn't know what else to say. What kind of boyfriend would make a twin pick him over his brother? He completely forgot about the lacrosse meet, the bus ride they had to take early in the morning, and the fact that Ethan was on the team, not Aiden, so he wouldn’t be able to see Aiden unless he came. 

Aiden left and Stiles cut up his pizza, wrapping it up so he could give it to him later. Stiles ate his alone on the couch, watching Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. When he was finished he did some homework. Chemistry was easier with Mrs. Martin as their teacher because she hadn't taught the subject in a while, and she wasn't a horrible, torturous asshole like Harris. Granted he hadn't wanted the guy to die, but who knew if he actually was? Maybe he got smart and ran away while he could. They had a new English teacher, too, who was young and pretty, and really freaking awesome actually. Stiles liked the way she explained things, though it was a little creepy Miss Blake had gotten all their phone numbers somehow. 

That night he fell asleep without ever getting a call or text from Aiden. He'd gotten annoyed enough by midnight that he turned his phone on silent, which meant he didn't see texts from Lydia and Scott detailing the nights events. He didn't know the twins, Kali, and Ennis had fought Derek, Scott, Isaac, Boyd, and Erica that night. He didn't know about Derek's fall, Ennis's death, or Scott's major injury. He didn't hear about Kali shoving a lead pipe through Erica or how the twins had broken Isaac's arm and Boyd's leg. 

Not until the next morning anyway. 

\---------------------------------

"Stiles, you're going to be late," John insisted as he knocked on Stiles's door. "The bus leaves... Son are you alright?" he asked, face dropping in concern as he looked into the room. 

Stiles sat on his bed, pillow in his lap and face twisted in restrained emotions. His hands twitched as they tugged at his hair, rubbed at his face, and moved toward the phone then away from it again. His phone was on the pillow, screen bright since he'd just read the texts. He felt _so guilty_. Here he'd been concerned about why his boyfriend didn't call him, when he should've been worried about his friends, about Derek and Scott, about _Erica_. He sniffed and swiped at his cheeks, sitting up straight. Stiles shook his head and looked up at his father with glossy, bloodshot eyes. "You're gonna have another unsolved murder to add to the pile," he declared, voice cracking. 

John came over, sat on the edge of Stiles's bed, and pulled his son in for a tight, firm hug. Stiles broke down and fell into his father's warm, secure embrace. He told his dad what happened, and how sorry he was, and that he and Aiden were pretty much over. Granted, he hadn't been the one to kill Erica, but he also hadn't done anything to stop it. He'd slashed up Boyd's back instead, broke limbs (who cared if they healed by now it wasn’t the point) and made everything worse. Stiles hadn’t been getting along with the pack but that didn’t mean he wanted them to _die_.

“You don’t have to go to the meet, if you don’t want. It’s a long bus ride, they’ll all be there, and I don’t think it’s a good idea—“

“No,” Stiles interrupted, pulling back to swipe his palms over his damp cheeks. “I have to go. I have to see Scott and make sure everyone’s alright. I can’t just—God I’ve gotta go,” he insisted. Stiles jumped up and changed into a pair of dark red jeans that may or may not have been dirty, as well as a random tee shirt, which he pulled a hoodie over immediately. He’d already packed his bags and stick, so he grabbed those and rushed out the door. 

John stood up with a sigh and headed for the door, only to be nearly ploughed over by his son in a hug. “I love you,” Stiles said, squeezing his father tight. 

“Love you too, kid,” he replied. He patted his son’s shoulder and watched him nearly tumble down the stairs with a fond, albeit worried, smile. John headed back into his own room to finish getting ready for work. He sighed when he recalled exactly what Stiles said, how they were going to find Erica’s body, or parts of it. Apparently there was only one way to permanently kill a werewolf, and it was fairly gruesome. John sometimes regretted knowing what was going on, and he wished he could give this girl’s family actual closure. It’d be better if they didn’t have a dismantled, burnt body and a killer on the loose; the family could at least have hope that way. 

\---------------------------------

Stiles scrambled onto the bus last minute, ignoring Finstock’s shouting. He shot a nasty look at Ethan, who was sitting with Danny, and clamored into the back seat with Scott. “Dude, I—”

Before he could even apologize Scott smiled and shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, dude. I should’ve at least listened. I thought if I pushed you away I’d be keeping you safe, but I only made it suck for the both of us,” he apologized. “I’m glad someone makes you happy, but I just really wish it wasn’t some guy constantly trying to kill us.”

Stiles sighed in relief, unable to believe he’d ever doubted Scott was the best friend on the planet. “No, don’t. This wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I was stupid and blind and I don’t—I don’t want to talk about him. Or think about him. I want to know how you’re doing, where Derek is, how everyone’s dealing,” he explained. He glanced forward to Isaac and Boyd, who sat up front and had looked ready to tear him apart when he stepped on the bus. 

“Don’t worry about them. We have no idea where Derek is. He’s not answering his phone, and he wasn’t even down there when I finally got down there to see how he was doing. Ennis wasn’t either, but…” Scott trailed off and sighed heavily. “It’s fucked up. That’s what it is,” he grumbled. Scott hissed as he adjusted himself in his seat, hand pressing against his side. 

Frowning, Stiles nodded downward and stared at Scott’s hand. “What’s up with you?” he wondered. 

Scott shook his head, but Stiles gave him a look that said he was not just going to drop it. “I’m not healing,” he whispered, slowing lifting up his shirt to reveal a bloody, oozing wound. 

“Holy shit dude!” 

The entire bus turned to look at him, and the driver even glanced up in his mirror. Stiles flailed a little and sunk down in his seat. “Why not?” Scott shook his head because he didn’t know and Stiles pulled out his phone. He texted Derek, calling him various names for not helping Scott right now and saying that he better be dead because if not Stiles was going to kill him. Even though Stiles really didn’t want Derek to be dead too. There was no answer, so he nearly texted Aiden. However letting the enemy know that their Alpha was missing and Scott wasn’t healing didn’t seem like the best idea. 

So for a few hours they suffered until he finally found a way to make Coach stop the bus. Allison and Lydia met them in the bathroom where Allison stitched up Scott. They got back on the bus and Scott started to heal. The pit stop apparently made them late, though, so they stopped at a seedy motel for the evening. The werewolves went into a suicidal trance, they saved Ethan even though no one was really sure why, and in the morning their necks and joints ached from sleeping in the bus. 

Stiles sat up, startled when Coach caught them, and felt a buzzing in his pocket. Yawning he smacked his lips together and looked around, counting to make sure everyone was there. The buzzing continued, a reminder, and he scrubbed a hand over his face. He frowned when he saw a text from Aiden. Multiple, actually, but the last one said:

_To: Stiles  
From: Aiden_

_Sunday 8:59am_

_Hey. We really need to talk. Can you please call me when you get this? I need to explain everything to you._

Sighing heavily Stiles looked up at Scott, who he could feel trying (and failing) to not read the text. His friend gave him a little nod, and Stiles could see a plan forming in those dark eyes. Stiles nodded in return and texted back. 

_To: Aiden  
From: Stiles_

_Sunday 9:32am_

_You can come over tonight when we get back._


	2. Kiss Kiss Kill Kill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiden tries to make up for what he's done, but bad guys don't ever really change.

“So… your excuse is that you were “doing what you were told”?” 

Aiden sighed heavily at Stiles’s words. It wasn’t that simple and he’d been trying to say that for the last hour. Stiles had texted him when they were almost back to the school, which gave Aiden time to get ready and head over. He wore Stiles’s favorite pair of jeans and a tight tee shirt, hoping that if nothing else he could rely on the strong physical connection they’d always had. The problem with that, though, was Stiles wouldn’t get close enough for him to touch. He was stuck in the doorway because there was an arch of mountain ash inside the doorway. 

“Seriously? Stiles,” he sighed and looked down, gesturing at the black ring, “get rid of this. Let me talk to you. _Listen_ to me when I say—“

“Oh I’ve been listening,” Stiles argued, arms crossed over his chest. He had dark circles under his eyes from not sleeping. While no one told Aiden exactly what happened yet he figured Ethan would tell him, or not. It didn’t matter if the twins were getting along in his mind. It wouldn’t have mattered if Ethan had died the previous night. Stiles didn’t care. He didn’t care about what Aiden said or what he did from here on out. He’d helped someone kill one of his friends. 

“I’ve been listening to you make excuses for _killing_ my friends. I’ve been listening to you lie about where you’re going and who you’ve been with. I listened to you when you said they weren’t treating me well, they were ignoring me, that I deserved better.”

Aiden threw up his hands and scoffed in disbelief. Anger bubbled inside his chest as he became frustrated with the whole conversation. “You weren’t even talking to them three days ago! They _aren’t_ good enough for you. They were treating you like shit! Stop acting like you care so much! If you did you would’ve known what was going on. You would’ve been there. You would’ve—” 

“Never fallen for you in the first place,” Stiles added bitterly. His eyes were watery and his teeth ground together as he tried to hold it back. He didn’t want to give Aiden the satisfaction of knowing he’d actually cared about him, that he felt like an idiot for doing so. “This was your plan all along, right? Wasn’t it? Seduce the weak little human to fray the pack some more. Get under his skin and use him, distract him, kill off his friends one by one?” he asked bitterly. 

“ _No_ ,” Aiden replied, looking distraught. The anger inside him quelled and melted into a painful, aching throb that hurt every time he inhaled. Frankly he wanted to shout that Stiles was just a human and not some important pawn because he didn’t serve a purpose. He was just a distraction, like Ethan had said. But he didn’t, because as much as he wanted to be angry and say those things it wasn’t how he felt. “No, Stiles. It wasn’t like that. I care about you, I _really_ do. I want to be with you, and I love you. God I—” he stepped forward and bounced back a step when the mountain ash barrier deflected him. “Stiles come on. I didn’t know they were going to kill anyone! I hurt Boyd because I wanted him to stop, I wanted everyone to stop. I didn’t know Kali was going to do that and if I had I would’ve stopped her. I promise.”

Stiles looked unimpressed. God he wanted to believe Aiden. He didn’t have any kind of special hearing and right now he was too tired, too emotional, to be able to read a lie properly any other way. He wished he would’ve accepted Scott’s offer to come over, but Stiles knew Aiden would’ve been able to tell he was there. Crossing his arms over his chest he shrugged. 

“I don’t believe you. If you wanted them to stop you could’ve said something. _You_ could’ve been the first to actually stop.”

“What can I do to make this up to you? Please? Stiles, I’ve been trying so hard here, and I—“

“Make them stop,” Stiles stated firmly, eyes scanning over Aiden. 

“What?”

“Is your super sensitive hearing not working?” he asked impatiently. Leaning forward he said, much louder, “Make them stop. Isn’t that what you wanted to do anyway?”

Aiden’s brow twitched and he looked confused. He used that to mask the insecurity, the fear, he felt right then at Stiles’s request. He knew everything they had planned, and he didn’t know what to do. He was one of four, now, without Ennis. Deucalion had killed his own so easily and readily—they all had. How could he possibly convince them to stop? So he just shifted from one foot to the other and shook his head, “Stop what?”

“Killing. Stop attacking us. Stop going after Scott and stop-- _just stop_. Maybe, I dunno, help figure out what the fuck a Darach is and why it’s terrorizing our town.”

“And then you’ll forgive me?” Aiden asked hopefully. 

Stiles sighed and shrugged a little. “We’ll see,” he answered. An idea struck and he called out before Aiden stepped outside, “Wait! Just… wait a second.”

Aiden stood stock still, watching Stiles dart down the hallway. He heard him open the fridge and rummage through it for a second before he came back with a lumpy package of aluminum foil. 

“Your pizza. Can’t have it stinking up my fridge,” he said. The corners of his lips twitched, like he wanted to smile but he wanted to be mad still even more. 

The werewolf grinned and nodded. “Wouldn’t want that. But I can’t… I mean you have to break it,” he said, gesturing down at the mountain ash. 

Stiles frowned for a moment, knowing this might be a trick. He knew he could reach through it easily and just pass over the pizza, but if he was going to use Aiden’s trust he had to lead him on a little. And part of him would be lying if it said he didn’t want this to work out—that he didn’t want Aiden to turn sides and be one of the good guys. Or a less bad guy. So Stiles crouched down, set the foiled pizza aside, and hovered his hands over the mountain ash line. He breathed out and spread his hands, grinning as a small wind pushed from his hands and spread apart the ash. He stood up with the pizza and blinked in surprise when Aiden was suddenly much closer, and smiling down at him. 

“Thanks,” he said, taking the pizza from Stiles. For a moment he stared down at the human with those hungry eyes he’d always had before, but didn’t come any closer. He turned around and left. 

\---------------------------------

Over the next two weeks Stiles and Scott’s plan worked flawlessly. The Alpha pack backed off, which gave them ample time to work on the Darachs plans. It was all a mess, to be sure, but they were all working together again. There was a minor hiccup when Lydia came into school one day and informed them Jackson was gone. He’d left for London with his family and that was it. That was the end of it. Of them. She overcompensated with her brave face, though, and everyone just felt even sorrier for her, which pissed her off. 

Derek was gone more often than not. He was really hard to get hold of and Stiles and the others weren’t sure why. They saw his shiny new SUV in the parking lot a few times, but never actually caught him being at the school. Stiles did text him to say he was glad he wasn’t dead, and that if he had any new information about Darachs that would be great. Derek sent him a sassy text back, which made Stiles smile, and the two of them were back on pretty good terms it seemed. 

It _seemed_ everything was going fine. Aiden kept popping up, always with new information that Kali or Deucalion had said in a meeting. Stiles almost felt bad for turning Aiden into a mole, and he got the feeling he was putting Aiden’s life on the line if the looks Ethan shot them were any indication. But Ethan wouldn’t kill his own brother, right? 

Then again by now Stiles knew how the Alpha pack became Alphas, and he knew he’d been about to really, truly fall in love with a mass murderer. 

When he said it he thought he meant it. When Stiles told Aiden that he loved him he thought that was true because it seemed like what he should say. After all Aiden had clearly meant it—or that’s what Stiles thought at the time. The right thing to do when someone said they loved you was say it back, right? And Aiden always made him feel safe, secure, wanted, and, well, loved. Now Stiles realized he’d loved those feelings more than Aiden. He’d loved the idea of being loved, as clichéd as that was, and that wasn’t fair to anyone. 

Still, he didn’t shove Aiden away when he came up to Stiles in the hallways. He didn’t reject a very small kiss here or there. He, unfortunately, did not reject the idea of a double date with Ethan and Danny. He got the feeling everyone involved regretted that decision, but he got a free meal out of it and to poke fun at Ethan the whole time. He was weirdly possessive of Danny and got hilariously upset every time Stiles even hinted at the whole werewolf thing. He didn’t want to drag Danny into it, but watching Ethan squirm had been the highlight of his week. 

That night Aiden took him home and made sure he was alright. Things felt like they were back to normal, actually, despite all the killing and sacrifice stuff happening. So when Aiden leaned in for a kiss Stiles didn’t push him away. When Aiden slipped his hands down Stiles’s pants he didn’t stop him, and when they somehow made it upstairs and Aiden pushed Stiles down on his bed he didn’t stop. 

He seriously regretted that later.


	3. Death and the Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Aiden's relationship comes to a head.

When Stiles woke up the next morning Aiden was gone, but that wasn’t so surprising because his father was home; he could hear him downstairs making coffee. Rolling over his cheek met something other than pillow and he heard a crinkling sound. Huffing he lifted his head and yawned, prying the paper from the side of his cheek. Sleepily he grinned when he saw the note. 

_Wish we could’ve had more time today. I wanted to make you breakfast. I’ll text you later and we can go see a movie or something._

_Love you._

Stiles snorted at the fact Aiden left a note like he had their first night together, instead of just texting. Setting it on his nightstand he yawned and nuzzled down into the covers some more. He pulled the pillow Aiden had been using beneath his face and smushed his nose and cheek into it. While he knew not everything was perfect, and that things weren’t amazing, he felt like they were really, truly getting back on track. They were making way with the Darach and its plans. They were coming together as a pack, and he and Aiden were on the mend. While he didn’t know if he could really be with the guy long term, considering all he’d done, he did want to believe people could change. 

He didn’t believe, though, that _he_ was the whole reason Aiden was changing. Being around Scott tended to do that to people, too, and Scott had made serious strides in trying to talk to and be friendly with Aiden and Ethan. Everyone had, because that was the plan, even if it pained them to do so. Boyd was never a man of many words, fortunately, so they didn’t really have to worry about him getting into a conversation and snapping necks. Isaac was another concern altogether, especially because he and the twins hadn’t gotten along well and Isaac was far more vocal about his distaste for things than some other people. 

Still, this was going to work. No one else, except maybe the Darach, was going to have to die. Once that was taken care of they could talk about Deucalion and Kali. Frankly he wouldn’t mind if Kali died, too. She’d killed Erica in cold blood, after all. Deucalion was just a pain in the ass but Scott was against killing so he guessed they’d have to let him walk away or something stupid like that. The twins, well, Stiles didn’t really know where he wanted the twins to wind up. He knew he still had feelings for Aiden, but he didn’t know if they were real—or founded on something real, rather. He didn’t know if he could trust the werewolf after all this, and he certainly didn’t know what the future would hold for them. 

If he had he wouldn’t have been so happy with that note. 

\---------------------------------

What started as a very normal Sunday morning turned sour very fast. Danny was apparently in the hospital throwing up mistletoe. Deaton was missing but Allison found an invisible map in her dad’s office with the help of a black light. They had a plan, though. Sort of. Stiles and Lydia were going to work on a theory while Scott went to track down Deaton. Apparently Lydia wasn’t psychic, but Stiles was positive she was _something_. When she got angry and fed up he snuck into Danny’s hotel room to steal his research on some underground currents. He thought it was weird that Ethan, the ever-concerned boyfriend, wasn’t around but whatever. 

After a short phone call with Scott he headed over to Derek’s to share what information they’d gathered, so they could all figure out a way to stop this evil thing. Completely oblivious to the action happening inside Stiles heard snarls and growls as he lifted up the elevator door and went sprinting down the hallway, Lydia at his heels. 

They got to the open doorway just in time to see Isaac covered Jennifer Blake with his body and bright strobes of light flashed all around. There were sparks as chords flailed and flicked sparks around. Stiles watched with an open look of horror as Derek, Boyd, Kali, and the twins were all electrocuted. Somehow the twins and Kali recovered faster, though. 

His heart thundered in his ears as he watched Ethan and Aiden pry back Derek’s claws, sticking them straight out so Kali could sink Boyd’s body onto them. 

“Join our pack by the next full moon, or I’m going to kill the rest of them,” Kali threatened, shoving Boyd’s dying body father onto Derek’s hands before she strode out.

Ethan and Aiden let go of Derek and followed after her. Aiden’s pace slowed as he made eye contact with Stiles. For a brief moment there was a flash of sorrow and remorse. He opened his mouth, but clamped it shut when Ethan smacked his arm to get him to keep walking. 

Trembling, Stiles waded into the water toward Derek and Boyd. Lydia made sure Jennifer was alright while Isaac rushed to Boyd’s side. His wounds weren’t healing, and they weren’t going to. Just like Erica’s. The pack was too weak, too broken, and they weren’t strong enough. 

Swallowing hard Stiles planted a hand on Derek’s shoulder and curled his fingers in, giving it a little squeeze. 

\---------------------------------

“You’ve gotta be _fucking kidding me_!” he screamed, practically spitting at his phone. 

“What?” Scott asked, looking over to Stiles. 

“Fucking. Nothing. Fucking nothing,” he snapped, deleting the text from a number he’d tried to ignore but had memorized after months of dating. 

The twins hadn’t been in school since they forced Derek to kill Boyd, and Stiles was grateful for that. He would’ve killed them if he saw them. He wasn’t even mad about how Aiden used him. That wasn’t the worst part. Stiles could handle being lied to, and bad shit happening to him, but that shit wasn’t anything compared to what they’d done. They’d destroyed the pack. They’d _used_ Derek as a tool to kill his own Beta! Stiles had tried to block Aiden’s number but apparently that wasn’t a thing on his phone, and he wasn’t about to tell his dad the whole reason they broke up. 

They broke up, it was over for good, and that was that. 

The only person who didn’t seemed to get it was Aiden. 

“You should answer it,” Isaac said lowly, fiddling with some map Allison had brought over to Derek’s loft. Looking up he met Stiles’s incredulous look with a hard, murderous one. “Answer it, lure him somewhere, and we can kill him.”

Stiles sighed heavily. That was tempting. He wanted them all gone, but dead wasn’t going to bring anyone back. Killing them wasn’t going to make him feel better about how he’d been used, how the whole pack had been treated, about all this fucking shit going down and now _his dad was missing_ along with Allison’s, and Scott’s mom. 

“Forget it. Just. How are we going to find them?” 

\---------------------------------

Dying was never something Stiles intended to do as a teenager. Coming back from death wasn’t amongst those things either. However they needed to kick-start the Nemeton, apparently, and apparently the only way to do that was dipping into an ice cold bath and walking through some weird, bright white room. With his dad’s badge clutched in one hand and Lydia’s hands on his shoulders he did it, though. 

They came back, he barely found them in time, and at the end of the day everyone was alive. Well, except for Jennifer, and Stiles was pretty sure Deucalion had done something with Kali, personally. However his dad was alive. His friends were alive. That was what mattered. No one else of theirs had been taken from them. 

Scott was an Alpha now, sheer force of will and all that, and graciously let Deucalion go. Stiles thought that was a bad call on his end, but he wasn’t in charge for that reason, probably. 

After a week of skipping school, sleeping, and letting things calm down life seemed… fine. Not good, not great, but fine. Scott was learning to cope with his Alpha powers, Allison seemed fine, and Lydia was now a banshee, apparently. No one knew about their little pack. 

Stiles just had something he wanted to take care of, and since he couldn’t sleep ever, at all, anymore he figured late at night was the perfect time. It’d always been when he came over, anyway. 

\---------------------------------

“You don’t have to do that, you know,” Derek insisted with a small frown. He watched Stiles drag in a huge area rug that he’d apparently picked up ‘super cheap’ somewhere. 

Stiles huffed and looked over his shoulder at Derek. “Yeah, well, I kinda do. Do you wanna help me or just watch me struggle?”

“I’m kind of enjoying the show.”

Dropping the end of the rug Stiles threw his head back and laughed. He panted as he said, “Oh god, and to think I actually missed your sorry butt.”

Derek smirked and headed over to help, grabbing the other end. They unrolled it, pushed it up to the little ledge where Derek had his table, and then pushed the couch Derek got from a Goodwill onto it. He had a shitty TV stand with a sort of nice TV on it on the other side of the rug. 

“Really ties the room together, man,” Stiles joked. 

He was rewarded with another small smile, though it faded quickly. The water had washed away all of Boyd’s blood, but Derek could still see it. He still saw that spot every day, struggling to deal with what he’d done. What he’d done _again_. 

“Hey,” Stiles said softly, wrapping an arm around Derek’s shoulders. “Not your fault, remember?” he asked, ducking his head to look up at Derek’s downturned eyes. 

“More mine than yours,” he muttered. 

Stiles huffed and looked out through the giant windows in Derek’s loft. He got the rug in hopes that Derek would stop obsessing over that one little spot; he wouldn’t be able to see it anymore with the rug there. That was the hope, anyway. Besides, as he’d argued, it looked more like a real place that someone lived in with that there. 

“We both dated murderous assholes who used us to get what they wanted. There. Does that work? Can we eat Chinese food _nooooow_?” he pleaded. 

Derek snorted and rolled his eyes, pulling away from Stiles to grab the containers out of the fridge to reheat. “You know, if you’re gonna come over here to work on the bestiary with me all summer, you’re going to have to contribute more than a rug and your endless sarcasm,” he pointed out. 

Stiles laughed as Derek sat down next to him. He’d turned the TV on and flipped to some documentary on the Amazon on the Discovery Channel. “Sorry dude, but that’s all you get. Hey are dragons real?” he asked as the commercial for the next exploratory show came on: The History and Myth Behind Mythology’s Hottest Creature. 

Derek chuckled and patted Stiles’s knee. “Help me with the damn book and you’ll get your answer,” he replied. He sat there for another minute, hand on Stiles’s knee, before he got up to retrieve the takeout. 

Grinning after him Stiles thought he really could get used to this. It wouldn’t be a bad way to spend the summer at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooooo it's over.  
> If people want I'll write out Aiden's death, as planned at the end, because I kind of wanted to.  
> But this sort of fell apart for me, and I had to mark it as complete unless peopled wanted otherwise.  
> I'm really sorry. I wanted this to be so much better and I'm sure you did too.

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS for reading! I've got a lot great feedback from this, as well as helpful criticism.  
> This is the only multi-chapter work in the series, and I'm pretty excited about it! 
> 
> Feel free to say hi on [tumblr](http://notoriousdre.tumblr.com/)! 
> 
> I'm also really bad at tags. So please let me know if there's something I missed!
> 
> Also. I glazed over canon stuff because what's the point of me writing that all out, ya know? I didn't want to bore you all by basically rewriting it.


End file.
